Racket



No?.l 12, 1940. J. M. LE CQMPTE ErAL 2,220,935

' RACKET Filed .July 25, 1958I IN VEN TOR. n M Ze o/W/e A TTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 12, 1940 PATENT OFFICE RACKET John M.

Le compte ana John Le compte,

North Attleboro, Mass.

Application July v25, 1938,y Serial No. 221,076 E 6 claims. (o1. 27s-#13) This invention relates to a racket for various game uses; and has for one of its objects-to pro- Vide a racket which will not warp due to moist conditions acting upon the strings of the racket.

A more specic object of the invention is to provide a means to prevent' the inward `movement of certain portions of the racket whichiinitially occurs at the time `warping takes place.

Another object of the invention is to strengthen the head without unduly adding to the weight of I the racket.

A further object of the invention is to pro-` vide a strengthening means which will leave the string portions of the contact area free for vstriking the ball uninterferred with by the strengthening portion.

A further and more specific object ofthe invention is to provide a part which will bridge the point to be prevented from inward movement with the bridge supported from otherkparts of the frame. s I I With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of con` struction, as will'be more fully described,\and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a plan view of the racket withthe handle broken off and illustratingV thehead as equipped with my invention; i

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the racket shown in Fig. 1; f

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

, Fig. 4 is a section on line 4--4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the complete racket with a modified form of strengthening means;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional View showingin detail the tightening means for the strengthening" strand;

Fig. 7 is a fragmental sectional view showing` 4it is found that the top of the frameflrst moves inwardly as warping commences and thereafter the sides of the frame move inwardly in a similar manner. Accordingly, in order to prevent warping we intend to strengthen the top and the sides of the frame where the frame is of thin or lighter construction by providing a means to prevent this inward movement of the frame at these points;` and the following is` a more detailed description of the present embodiment of this invention, illustrating the preferred means by which these advantageous results may be accomplished:

With reference to the drawing, I designates the heador frame of the racket of a generally elliptical shape which is usually formed by a bent strip of wood either of several pieces ora single piece forming a top portion II, side portions I2`, I2', while the ends of this strip of wood extend down into the handle I3 usually with some insert at the throat portion I4 and some covering of a layer of wood or the like to provide the handle I3. There also is usually some strengthening covering at I which extends up the sides `of the frame a short distance.

weak portions cannot very well be strengthenedl by thickening the material without adding excessive weight to the racket which cannot be balanced inthe handle, and accordingly expensive rackets with strings which are strung ftight are put into a press almost immediately upon'completion of use soas to prevent a warping ortwist ing of the head frame I0 in which the strings I8 are placed in a usual manner.

- In order to prevent the portions I6 or I1 from moving inwardly by reason of the tension on the strings I8,` we have provided a strand which extendsvacross the `arcuate top 2| of the frame and 'through openings 22 in the head frame I 0 and thence along the outer surface or in aigroove inthe outer surface as at 23, 23' and again in` wardly `through openings 24, thence acrossthe acuate portion 25 as at 26, 26 and again through openings 21, 2'I' and along the outer surface or in the groove 28 of the portion 2;.9 of the frame. Thenceagain inwardly as at 30, 30 and across the lower part of the frame and through the frame again as at 3|; 3l where they are suit` ably anchored by tucking back into the frame and being knotted, see Fig. 7, or in any suitable manner. i

The head frame consists of` a main portion above described and an auxiliary portion which will presently appear. The portions 20, 26 and 26' of the strand or member which extends along The Weakest portion of a frame so constructed is at the inner surface of the frame engagethe inner surface of the frame so as to provide a support against inward movement for the portion of the frame along the inner surface of which the strand extends. In order to provide this support the engagement of the frame with the strand should occur along the strand at a plurality of points or substantially throughout the extent of the strand along the inner side of the frame. Where the material of the main frame is bent into the shape shown, it is desirable that the frame be of a substantially uniform thickness, and accordingly,

when this portion of the frame is so formed, it is vconcavely arcuate along its inner surface. Thus, in order that the frame may contact the strand atthe middle and at other points of its extent overy the inner surface, we build up or suppl-y an auxiliary portion of the frame at the location between the holes 22, 24, 2l, 24', 21 by additional portions 32, 33, and 33 to increase the dimension of the frame in order that the frame may be braced at these locations. These additional parts of th-e frame may be considered as struts or braces. Another form of causing the frame to be supported is byproviding recesses 4U adjacent holes or openings 22, 24, 2l, 24', 21 on the inner surface as shown in Fig. 5 so that the strand may contact the frame from the inside at its middle and other points along its extent. As this strand is exceedingly tight and any movement at the top I6 would pull upon the side portions 23, 23' of the strand in affording inward movement, and since this cannot move inwardly because of the tight condition and the support from the outer surface of the frame, we effectively prevent the top I6 or the. sides I'I and il from inward movement so that this movement cannot occur; and we have found that a racket braced in this manner will withstand strains which will warp the usual racket not so supported.

The strand 20 may be of the same gut material that is used for the vStringing of the racket or it may Ibe wire, `and when we provide a wire which ,'we will designate 35 in Figs. 5 and 6, we will provide a bore 31 in the head l0, thread the ends of the wire 35 as at 38 and provide a nut 39 which will abut the bottom of the bore and when turned will tighten up the wire 35 to provide a tightening device for providing a rm support for the bridging part of the wires which pass within the head frame.

' The portions such as 32 and 33 which we provide need'enot be such as to completely fill the space between the support strand and the outer portion of the frame as any means resting against the strand and preventing movement of the outer portion of the frame inwardly will provide `a desired function.

By reason of the Stringing device extending pe- `ripherally about the frame the strings are left free during the entire playing area and the weight which is added to the frame may be readily compensated for in the handle, it being at the most not more than a fraction of an ounce.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the construction illustrated, but we desire it to be understood that we reserve the privilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the device is susceptible, the invention being defined and limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a racket, a head frame carrying a plurality of strings, a member extending along the outer surface of the frame fora portion of its extent and 'then passing through the frame and extending along and in contact with the inner surface of a portion of the frame for providing a support to prevent inward movement of the frame -along said portion.

2. In a racket, a head frame, a member extending lengthwise circumferentially along the outer surface of the frame for a portion of its extent and then passing through the frame and extending generally lengthwise circumferentially along the inner surface `of the frame in contact therewith for a portion of its extent and providing a support to prevent inward movement of the frame along said portion.

3. In a racket, a head frame carrying a plurality of strings, a member extending along the outer surface of the frame for `a portion of its extent and then passing through the frame and extending along and in contact with the inner surface of a portion of the frame, said frame lbeing increased in its dimension to engage the v member extending over its inner surface.

4.4 In a racket, a head frame carrying a plurality of strings, a member extending along the outer surface of the frame for a portion of its extent and then passing through the frame and extending along and in contact with the inner surface of a portion of the frame for providing a support 'to prevent inward movement of the frame along said portion, the extent of the member along the inner surface of the frame occurring at the top of the head and at each side portion thereof.

. 5. In a racket, a main frame, a member extending lalong the outer surface of the main frame for a portion of its extent and then passing through the frame and extending along the inner surface of the main frame and in spaced relation to a portion of the main frame for a portion of its extent, and an auxiliary frame portion engaging the member and inner surface of the said portion of the main frame to hold the frame against inward movement.

6. In a racket, a frame, a strand having portions extending along the length of the outer surface of the frame and disposed at spaced portions of its extent, and other portions of said strand passing through the frame and extending along the inner surface of the frame at the top and sides thereof and in spaced relation for a portion of its extent to bridge said inner surface, and means engaging the bridging portions of said strand and said inner surface of the frame to provide supports to hold the top and sides of said frame against inward movement, owing to any tendency of said frame to deformation under tension of the vertical and transverse strings with which the frame usually is strung.

JOHN M. LE COMPTE. JOHN B. LE COlVfPTE. 

